To properly solder or braze a pipe joint in any plumbing system, the pipes must be free of any liquid. Should any liquid, such as water, be flowing in the pipe, even if the quantity flowing were very small, the solder will not properly bond and an inferior joint will be produced during a repair operation. In large plumbing systems such as would be found in industrial, commercial or institutional settings, it is difficult to eliminate all the water in the piping for several reasons. One reason is that the shut-off valve may be at a great distance from the place of repair, and even after the valve is closed, water will trickle through the pipe for a long period of time. Another reason why water remains flowing in the pipes is that the shut-off valve may be below the level of the repair place and in order to make the repair, the water would have to be drained from the pipe prior to soldering. A great deal of time might be required before the pipe would be completely drained. Where the point of repair is below the drain level, the pipe would have to be cut to allow the pipe to be drained. Yet another reason why water remains trickling through pipes is that shut-off valves oftentimes do not completely block the flow of water and small quantities of water leak pass the valve.
Various devices have been made to plug pipes to stop the flow of liquid through a pipe during repair. The known devices have had various disadvantages. They all are somewhat complex in structure requiring multiple elements interacting to expand a plug to stop the water flow. These known plugging devices are expensive to manufacture and purchase. In large plumbing systems various diameter pipes are used and would require a plugging device for each diameter pipe, at a great expense to the user. Another disadvantage of the known plugging devices is that they are rigid in their makeup. The devices are provided with stiff shafts that are rotated for expanding the plugs. The rigid construction of the plugging devices prevents their use through elbows or other blends in a piping system. In other words, the known plugging devices are limited to use in straight sections of pipe. Where a bend exists in the piping system, the pipe would have to be cut to provide a straight section to accomodate the plugging devices.
My invention provides a pipe repair bypass apparatus for use in repairing pipes by brazing, welding or soldering, hereinafter collectively referred to as soldering, which apparatus is very simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and capable of being used in piping systems having bends or elbows without having to cut the pipe to take the bend out of the repair zone. My invention has few elements, none of which are required to be rotated through sophisticated connections or the like to expand plugs. My bypass apparatus is also simple to use requiring easy insertion and removal into and out of the pipe to be repaired. In addition to the just mentioned advantages, my invention is readily adaptable to different diameter pipes simply by changing the size of one element to conform to a particular size pipe. The cost difference between the various sizes of my invention would be very small.